2015 Poll: IPC Sensitizes Journalists On Media Code

As part of bid to ensure violence free election come February, the International Press Centre on Tuesday organised a seminar (Tweet-a-thon) to sensitize journalists.

The seventh tweet-a-thon themed: ‘Making use of Media Code of Election Coverage for Credible Reporting’, generated several tweets which reached 134,853 accounts, thereby making 173,975 impressions through hashtag #Media4Elections.

Lead discussant, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, The Sun Newspapers and President, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Femi Adesina, charged the Nigerian media on professional coverage of the general elections.

Speaking at the International Press Centre (IPC) Tweet-a-Thon, on Tuesday, Adesina who was represented by Mr. Bolaji Tunji, Executive Director, Special Duties, The Sun Newspapers, stressed that if the elections would go well, without negative incidents, it depends largely on how the media do their work.

“There are several factors that instigate electoral violence, but a key one is the perceived sense of injustice, through electoral manipulation. But if the media does its work professionally, covers the elections dispassionately, and the electoral umpire also does its work with absolute neutrality, and efficiently, then the possibilities of violence flaring are greatly reduced,” he said.

According to him, credible reportage promotes the transparency and impartiality that goes into an election that has been properly conducted.

He noted that stakeholders in the media had worked hard over the past many months to articulate what is now called ‘The Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage’, which has now been formally presented to the public.

Also present at the seminar is former Assistant Editor, Vanguard Newspapers, Mrs. Funmi Komolafe as well as General Secretary of the Lagos State council of the Nigerian Union of Journalist, (NUJ), Mrs. Abimbola Oyetunde.

Mrs. Komolafe in her presentation advised journalists not too over trust anybody to the extent of not having necessary details about situations reported.

“Politicians in most cases want to use you. Do not over trust your sources because the person giving you the information only wants to get it across through you. So double check the details,” she reiterated.

Mrs. Yetunde responded to a question from Mrs. Komolafe on how Police representatives, the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Civil Defence Corps and the Department of State Security (DSS), were informed about the role of the media in the coverage of election.

In her response, she suggested that the Union at the national level set up a monitoring team to mediate between military and paramilitary personnel as well as journalists when need arises.

Mr. Adeshina, who observed that elections should be about free will, making choices, and contributing to development through the emergence of leaders who can serve faithfully, said: “Elections in our country need not be doomsday.”

He said: “Why then should a country perish, simply because it is holding elections? That is the scenario in Nigeria.  But the evil day can be avoided if journalists do their work impartially, professionally and efficiently.

“A document has been put together to help us.  Let everyone that has the code of election coverage run with it.  The vision is for an appointed time.  And that time is now,” he summed.

The associations involved in the months-long bid to produce the document included Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON).
Others are Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Media Rights Agenda (MRA) as well as International Press Centre (IPC).